


One of the Lucky Ones

by watcherofworlds



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 04:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12449235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: Daniel struggles with Peggy's declaration that he is "one of the lucky ones"





	One of the Lucky Ones

“Daniel,” Peggy said as he went to leave. He stopped and turned back toward her. “You’re one of the lucky ones.” There was an emotion in her voice that Daniel didn’t think he cared to identify. Her words echoed in his mind as he made his way back to his desk.  _ You’re one of the lucky ones. _ He knew what she meant- that he was one of the lucky ones who had made it out of the war alive and mostly in one piece, something even the oh so famous Steve Rogers hadn’t managed, but the problem was the he didn’t  _ feel _ lucky. He didn’t feel lucky when strangers stared at his leg on the subway, then tried to pretend like they hadn’t been staring when he noticed them. He didn’t feel lucky when Dooley treated him like he was only half a man. He certainly didn’t feel lucky when he looked into Peggy’s eyes and saw nothing in them but pity. 

“What’re you moping about, Sousa?” Thompson asked, approaching his desk. He wore that self- righteous smirk that Daniel hated.

“I’m not  _ moping _ ,” Daniel said defensively. “I’m thinking.”

“Sure,” Thompson replied, “because everyone looks mopey when they’re ‘thinking’.” He made quotation marks in the air with his fingers, his tone mocking. 

“Come on,” he prodded, leaning his hip against the side of Daniel’s desk. “What’s eating you?”

“Don’t you have work to do?” Daniel snapped instead of answering. He didn’t much care for people prying into his personal business, especially when it was Thompson doing the prying. His gaze flicked briefly to Peggy’s desk. It was still empty.

“Don’t tell me this is about your little crush on Carter,” Thompson said, noticing the momentary shift in Daniel’s attention. Daniel really wished he hadn’t. It would be next to impossible to get him to let go of this.

“I don’t have a crush on Carter,” he insisted in spite of knowing that Thompson wouldn’t believe him. He reached for a file on his desk in an attempt to deflect the conversation.

“You’re not fooling anyone, Sousa,” Thompson replied. His tone had shifted from mocking to amused. “We can all see it.”

_ Yeah, well, apparently  _ Peggy  _ can’t _ , Daniel thought but didn’t say. He didn’t want to give Thompson the satisfaction of being right.

“She said I was one of the lucky ones,” he mumbled.

“Carter?” Thompson asked, glancing back toward the file room, from which Peggy still hadn’t emerged. Daniel nodded.

“Why has that got you moping?” Thompson wanted to know. “It’s a compliment, isn’t it?”

“Not if I don’t  _ feel _ lucky,” Daniel protested. “I certainly don’t feel like I’m luckier than Captain America.”

“You assume that’s what Carter was getting at?” Thompson asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I found her crying in the file room with the Project Rebirth file in her hands,” Daniel said, mentally wincing at the realization, a split second later, that that probably wasn’t something Peggy wanted people to know about. “What else could she have been getting at?” He fell silent, feeling pensieve.

“It’s starting to seem like this conversation is gonna wander into self-pitying territory if it goes any further,” Thompson said abruptly. “And-” he spread his arms wide in a mock-apologetic gesture- “I just don’t have time for that.” 

_ I’m not being self-pitying _ , Daniel thought irritably as Thompson wandered away.  _ I’m just wondering if Peggy is right. _


End file.
